Sequential Trigon-6

[Al Coda]

I´d like to see a comparison of Trigon-6 and Novation Summit, which is also a 3-OSC per voice synth w/ way more features and for less than half the price.

 

 

A.C.

[CyberGene]

I owned a Peak for a while and I’d say I really liked it a lot but its filter was a bit characterless and generic sounding, not Moogish. This and the fact everything is potentiometers and loading a patch you can’t immediately see the actual settings made me sell it but not without a lot of hesitation. I’d buy a Summit. 

[Theo Verelst]

After Smith has left us the whole machinery of lots of AD and DA convertors and some industrial grade digital signal processing in between, combined with electronics designed to be programmable traditional synthesizer "blocks" might be under unknown leadership, judging from the continued efforts and the results thus far (as far as I know) the idea of ground breaking modulation design and of course working sound synthesis electronics (integrated or discrete) hasn't been deeply changed since the P5.

 

From studying the electronics and some of the sounds I feel the design of the sounds wasn't more than the combination of Moog blocks with programmability (pretty difficult to so accurately, even today) and the modulation design, probably part of an understanding about certain sound generalities as used in produced music.

 

Now, the question in a hybrid analog / digital synthesizer design with mainly a sound path like an all-analog synth (no programming, no digital modulation) is: where is the digital conversion takes place, with which quality and what effect. Or you could be interested in the complexity of a new analog electronic design, like how many oscillators, LFOs, filters, envelopes, etc., which when compared with a powerful computer running in performance mode possibly combined with acceleration cards like graphics cards or heavy FPGA cards has somehow to sound better or more interesting, or you could just as well sell a front plate design with Usb Midi. In which case you'd somehow have to turn the digital power into something to interest your customers.

 

Theo V

 

[The Real MC]

For those who are curious how the Trigon-6 features compare to the Memorymoog, I tabulated them in these tables.  The differences are in red text.

 

The Memorymoog set a pretty high bar with its sound/voice modulation and I've been looking for something more portable (hardware) that could get me those sounds.  It was a long long search (since ~1990) - other products with similar feature set did not make the cut.  SCI was gradually getting there the last ten years, the P-6 was pretty close but not quite.  Then the Trigon-6 knocked it out of the park.  The Trigon-6 not only emulates the Memorymoog really well and delivers that vintage ladder filter sonority, it has a lot of other tricks it can do.  Very welcome additions are much better MIDI implementation (including patch sysex and polyAT), filter feedback, overdrive, velocity control, and digital effects.  I'm not normally a fan of on-board effects but these are well thought out selections, very suitable for an analog synth.  Effects like the phasers have an uncanny vintage quality to them that surprised an analog diehard like myself.  I would had preferred more controls for the effects, but I have other resources for those occasions.  

 

I bought the desktop module - it is solidly built and the controls/buttons aren't too crowded for stubby fingers.  This is an addition to my two OB-X8 desktop modules that comprise my stage rig and this set will fill my gigging needs nicely (and replaces my aging Andromeda).  The OB-X8 sounds excellent but has some gaps that the Trigon fills - IE voice modulation, VCF EG to modulate PW (the SEM had it but omitted on the X8), aftertouch opens or closes the VCF (X8 only opens, can't do brass sforzando effects).  I have found that the Oberheim filters and the Moog ladder filters co-exist nicely together, not a lot of overlap.  SCI is building really good products - they may not have every feature of other products, but they are enough and they fill a market need.

Do I miss the omitted Memorymoog features like EG Keyboard Follow?  Well I'm having a hard time recalling ANY of my MM patches where I used that feature - so I'm not crying over them.  I liked the MM Contoured OSC3 Amount feature but I have that in the OB-X8.  The one enduring feature I am pushing SCI is VCF Keyboard Tracking - they implemented off-half-full, while the MM is off-1/3-2/3-full.  I feel the MM implementation is more flexible and really makes a difference with some patches being playable across the entire keyboard range.

The best thing about the Trigon... no calibration or tuning foibles (anyone who owns/owned a MM knows this too well).  Calibration is painless using the firmware.

[Jim Alfredson]

Awesome post, @The Real MC. The Trigon is on my short list. I've played it at Sweetwater and was blown away by the sheer analog lushness. My only bitch is the 49 keys. I don't like desktop modules, I prefer keyboards and 61 is the bare minimum for a poly, imo.

[ProfD]

On 11/20/2023 at 2:33 PM, Jim Alfredson said:

I prefer keyboards and 61 is the bare minimum for a poly, imo.

Same here. 

 

I understand the manufacturer rationale behind poly synths with 49 keys or less but that isn't *my* problem.🤣

 

The Trigon-6 sounds fantastic.  Same goes for the Take Five.  Key count kept me from buying one.😎

[The Real MC]

On 11/20/2023 at 2:33 PM, Jim Alfredson said:

 My only bitch is the 49 keys. I don't like desktop modules, I prefer keyboards and 61 is the bare minimum for a poly, imo.

 

5 hours ago, ProfD said:

Key count kept me from buying one.😎

 

That's why they invented MIDI controllers.

I did have an aversion for desktop modules and had preferred rack mount for gigging.  I made that preference clear to SCI.  This summer I gave up my aversion and bought two OB-X8 and a T-6 in module format.  I wanted those products but I did not want to add keyboards to my stage rig, and being a compact lightweight format I could not deny that modules were the best solution for me.  They are two inches too wide for rack mount and I am designing a solution using sliding drawers to secure the modules and mount the assemblies in a customized rack case that is wide enough to accommodate them.